VOX Box: Turtle Power 21
Characters * Casey Jones * April O'Neil * Leonardo * Raphael * Donatello * Michelangelo * Old Hob Location * "Sweet Spot Ice Cream Parlor" (Abandoned), Star City, OR * November 26th 2016, 1932 Local Time VOX Archive * opens: footsteps: 2 instances * Casey Jones: The coast is clear, guys... * footsteps: 4 instances * Raphael: Geez, I'd say so... bare footsteps, clatter * Michelangelo: It looks like they left in a hurry. * Raphael: scoff It looks like they against their will... * Michelangelo: What?! * Leonardo: Yeah, I think Raph's right. footsteps, clatter These are signs of a struggle. * Michelangelo: bare footsteps Slash? Ray? Sally? footsteps, clatter, door opens Pete? Herman? Guys, it's Mikey! * Donatello: footsteps Leo, you know what I'm thinking? * Leonardo: Venus? * Donatello: Yeah... What if she sold out the Mutanimals to the Foot? * Leonardo: Yeah, I'm afraid you're onto something there, Donnie. sigh * April O'Neil: I can't believe she'd do this. * Casey Jones: scoff I can. * Michelangelo: footsteps Brso, this place is, like, totally empty! * Raphael: Yeah... It is. sigh So what now? We got to rescue the Mutanimals, too? * Leonardo: It looks like it. * Donatello: Yeah, but we don't even know where they're keeping them. * Raphael: Leave that to Casey and me. * Casey Jones: Now you're talking. * Raphael: footsteps Let's go- * Old Hob: footsteps Whoa there. * Raphael: sai pulled from belt: 2 instances You! * unsheathed: 2 isntances, staff twirling, chains rattling: 2 instances * Old Hob: footsteps Easy there, boys... Look- tha safety is activated. clatter And now it's over there. * Raphael: Weird move, but 'm not complain- footsteps, sai twirling: 2 instances * Leonardo: Hold on, Raph... footsteps What are you doing here, Hob? * Old Hob: For once we're on the same side, reptiles. * Raphael: scoff I doubt that. * Old Hob: You want the Mutanimals freed? So do I. * Donatello: Bot you work for the Shredder! * Old Hob: On paper, sure... but... chuckle I've gotten what I needed out of that relationship. * April O'Neil: scoff And what's that? * Old Hob: Here, I'll show you. * Raphael: bare footsteps Hey- * Old Hob: shifting It's in my coat... I'll go nice and slow. Okay? fabric shifitng, clatter Here. * Donatello: gasp Ooze! * Old Hob: Not quite ooze... Thisis the good stuff. Mutagen. * Leonardo: What you going to do with that? * Old Hob: Create mutants. * April O'Neil: Create mutants? Why? * Old Hob: shifting, clatter Because, human, if we're going to carve a place for our kind in this world, we're going to need more of us. * Leonardo: Are you saying you've just been- what? Playing the Foot this whole time? * Michelangelo: The way I heard it is you're the one who gave the Foot mutagen to begin with! * Old Hob: footsteps, door closes, back pressed against wall, fabric shifting, clatter, clatter, lighter crank, flame crackling, paper lighting, puff, puff, blow, clatter, fabric shifting, puff, puff, blow Yeah... I did. puff, blow But mutagen comes in stages... puff, blow * April O'Neil: He's right. * Old Hob: puff, blow I guess it starts off as "ooze". puff, blow It turns out that comes from these aliens- * Michelangelo: Aliens?! * Donatello: The Utrom, Mikey. * Michelangelo: Oh, yeah... I knew that. chuckle * Old Hob: Yeah, them. puff, blow It's potent stuff, but it's raw... unrefined for creatures on this planet. puff, blow Just as likely to kill you as heal you. puff, blow It also doesn't cause the impressive mutation that has spawned our kind. puff, blow * April O'Neil: Yeah, it has to be filtered. The mutagen needs to be extracted from it. * Old Hob: Right. puff, blow And while I got my paws on plenty of the mutagen from the debris of the fire that introduced us- * Raphael: groan ... * Old Hob: chuckle I didn't know how to use it. If I was going to be the "Adam" of a new race, I needed to learn how to make this goo work. puff, blow So, yeah, I gave the Foot some mutagen. I made sure to keep plenty to myself, though. puff, blow Not that they know that part... puff, chuckle, puff, blow They used my stash to create that turtle that's still somehow uglier than you four and that dumb dog. puff, blow * Donatello: Tokka and Rahzar. Yeah, we've had the pleasure. * Michelangelo: groan Don't remind me. * Old Hob: Once I saw that process, I went home and did my own experiment. puff, blow I made Pete. * Michelangelo: Pigeon Pete? No way! * Old Hob: puff, blow, sigh Yeah, much like the Foot Clan did, I realized that the mutagenic cocktail was missingomething. * April O'Neil: The mental stimulant. * Old Hob: Bingo. The samples I found didn't have the brain-enhancing additive. puff, puff, blow Stockman had a little stash, though. It turns out he had three animals he'd been experimenting on the side with while he was creating you four and your rat. puff, blow * Leonardo: Right, Slash... Leatherhead, and... * Donatello: Venus. * Old Hob: He also had enough stimulant to prep three others. puff, blow Shredder volunteered three animals from his personal collection. puff, blow His hunting falcon, his shark executioner, and his wife's pet fox. * Raphael: Wait, a fox... Alopex? * Old Hob: That's her. puff, blow * Casey Jones: Whoa, hold on! Did you say shark?! Shredder has a shark? * Old Hob: puff, puff, blow Mm-hmm... He used to feed his enemies to it. Real gruesome stuff. * Michelangelo: Gnarly... * Leonardo: Yuo said it. * Old Hob: Yeah, humans are cruel creatures. puff * Raphael: scoff Yeah, well Shredder didn't try to eat a baby! * Old Hob: blow Don't be dramatic. I didn't try to eat you... Are you still upset by that? dropped on floor, cigarette crushed Haven't I already paid for that? Can't it be water under the bridge? * Raphael: That wasn't the only time you tried to kill us! * Old Hob: footsteps, clatter No. It wasn't, but what can I say? I needed the Foot to achieve my goals...Goals bigger than four reptiles. * Donatello: Anyway... As you were saying? * Old Hob: Right... So Shredder had Stockman use up the brain juice, so if I were going to give the mutant race a dignified story, I needed to get more of that good stuff. sigh So, that's what brought us into conflict in the past... in my days as 'Head Mouser'. * Michelangelo: pause Oh, yeah, whatever happened to those little robots? They were kinda cute... when they weren't biting our ankles. * Old Hob: They served their purpose. They got the DNA we needed from your rat. Enugh to make the mental stimulant for five or six others. Ray, Sally, and Herman among them. pause And we even did something a little special with the mental stimulant that time. * Leonardo: What's that? * Old Hob: Stockman figured out how to extract enzymes or something from the brains of people and mix it into the mutagen. This gave the animals not only human intelligence from the mental stimulant, but also developed skills based on the muscle memories or whatever. * Donatello: Ah, he must've found a way to harvest or duplicate GluR proteins or AMPA neuroceptors with their stored emories intact. * Raphael: Huh? * Donatello: sigh There's a chemical in the brain that stores memories. sigh Basically, that's how they made Sally a skilled pilot without ever being in the helicopter, made Ray a skilled military commander despite never having been in battle, and gave Herman a knack for engineering despite never having seen a wrench or- * Raphael: Yeah, okay... I get it. sigh So if this mental stimulant is so important, how'd you do so well for yourself without it? * Old Hob: Hmm? * Donatello: Yeah, you mutated because of the mutagen residue on Raphael and Splinter... and what? Licking their blood off your paws? * Old Hob: That's the theory, yeah... * Donatello: So how did you become so intelligent? * Old Hob: Stockman thinks that my devouring the dead lab rats that didn't survive your rat's original exposure to the ooze did the trick. * Donatello: Ah, secondary exposure trough ingesting the ooze-exposed corpses acted as the necessary filter which enhanced your intelligence. * Old Hob: It makes sense to me. I always was a smart kitten. chuckle * Leonardo: So the Foot sent Venus to abduct Splinter so they can make as much of this brain stimulant as they need? * Old Hob: Something like that. Her main mission was to get Splinter, yeah... but she was also supposed to learn the location of your lair. * Raphael: Good thing Leatherhead stopped her. * Michelangelo: But why target the lair? Why didn't she just kill us up at the farm? * Old Hob: Shredder doesn't want you dead... At least not all of you. Apparently your bodies are of interest to the Utrom. * Leonardo: What? Why? * Old Hob: I don't know the details, reptile. I'm sorry. I might be in with the Foot, but I'm not privy to all of their dealings. I'm still a 'lowly' mutant. * April O'Neil: Okay, so you got the mutagen with the brain stimulant. So now you're ready to just switch sides and help us take down the Foot? * Old Hob: scoff I'm not ready for a war, yet. I don't have an army... but I'm willing to help you get your rat back. Afterall, he's vital to my plans. * Raphael: What's the catch? * Old Hob: No catch. I know where your rat is being held and I'm prepared to help you go get him. * Leonardo: No... I'm with Raph. There's a catch. You don't do anything for free. * Old Hob: scoff Fine... Once your rat is free, I'll just periodically need some of his blood. * Donatello: scoff No way you have the means to extract the mental stimulant enzyme from his raw blood... or how to mix it with mutagen. * Old Hob: No,you're right. I don't know how... but I know someone who does. * Leonardo: Who? * Old Hob: You let me worry about that. * Casey Jones: I don't know, guys... There's something he's still not telling us. * Michelangelo: I don't care! Our father is being held captive and so are a bunch of our friends! If he's willing to help, I say we let him! * Raphael: I'm actually with Mikey on this one... * Leonardo: Do you know where the Mutanimals are being held? * Old Hob: chuckle Oh, about that... Thanks for reminding me. I need to make a call. One sec. shifitng, clatter, click, screen tap Hey, Ray... It's Hob. I'm with the turtles. Everything good there? pause Yeah? Good, good... Thanks. tap, beep The Mutanimals are safe. * Raphael: What was that? Since when did you- pause Wait, you're working with the Mutanimals? * Old Hob: Yeah... All this mess? It was staged. Shredder has spies watching the Mutanimals. We needed to make it look like we were baiting you. * Michelangelo: Wait... * Leonaro: Are you saying-? * Donatello: The Mutanimals have been working with the Foot all this time? * Old Hob: In a manner of speaking. Yeah, Shredder put me in charge of overseeing the Mutanimals. Our plan ws to use them to lure your rat out, but he so rarely left whatever it is you reptiles call home. So our next plan was for you to befriend them enough to trust them into being brought to your lair... Except that was what the Foot wanted them to do, but I had other plans. chuckle I deliberately sabotaged that mission. I got Slash, Ray, Sally, and Herman on my side. Well, Pete did most of the work. For a pigeon, he makes a good mole. chuckle The fox was difficult, but I managed to convince the Shredder to reassing her elsewhere. Anyway, we all agreed to go along with the Foot's schemes and when they weren't busy hanging out with you, earning your trust, we were secretly gathering resources and preparing for the day when we'd detach ourselves from the Foot... and that day has come. * Michelangelo: So where are the Mutanimals then? * Old Hob: I'll tell you that when we have a deal. I can't compromise the secrecy of our sanctuary until I know we're all friends here. * Raphael: scoff How do we know this isn't another of the Foot's tricks? * Leonardo: I suspect we don't. * Old Hob: You agree to help me free the rat and as many other mutants that we can, give me access to rat's blood once in a while, and agree to form a mutually beneficial alliance between your clutch and my mutant militia then you can count on the Mutanimals helping you against the Foot... in such a way as to completely eradicate any shade of doubt left in your mind as to my allegiance to the Foot. * Leonardo: We need to act quickly. * Old Hob: I agree. It needs to happen tonight. We're already prepared to mobilize on your command. * Raphael: Why tonight? * Old Hob: Every hour in Foot custody, your rat provides the Foot with the material to make new mutant soldiers. Even as we speak, the Foot are conducting their next phase in mutagenic testing. They're turning humans in mutant animals. * April O'Neil: What?! * Old Hob: They're expecting a rescue mission. * Donatello: So much for the element of surprise. * Old Hob: Well, not really. They think I've got the Mutanimals prepared to ambush you. Except they couldn't be more wrong. * Raphael: Okay, so... us, Hob, the Mutanimals... That's what? Twelve against... A thousand Foot and the Shredder? chuckle Sure. Sounds fun! * Old Hob: Don't forget his new mutants. Not to mention his shark, falcon, and the brutes. We'll try to capture the mutants, but no assurances. * Donatello: This sounds like a suicide mission. * Old Hob: The Mutanimals will make the ruckus. We're armed to the teeth for this "ambush" Shredder's expecting. We'll draw most of the attention. We just need you to sneak inside, get your rat, and free any other mutants you might find in there. And if you can plant some explosives on whatever mutagen production facilities they have inside, feel free. * Leonardo: What do yuo think, guys? * Raphael: I'm in. You know I ain't gonna miss this sorta fun. * Michelangelo: Yeah, we gotta get Splinter back. * Donatello: Of course you'll need me if we're going to find where they're doing the mutagen production. I'll need some help, though. Last time I saw a mutagen production facility, I was a little smaller- * Leonardo: April? * April O'Neil: Yeah, I can help identify it. I spent enough time in my dad's lab back in the day. I know what to look for. * Casey Jones: Well, you're not going in there without backup. I'll keep them safe while you three get Splinter. * Leonardo: Alright, it looks like we'resettled then... Okay, Hob... You got a deal. footsteps: swords sheathed: 2 instances Where we going? Trivia and Notes * Story continues from VOX Box: Turtle Power 20. * Story continues in VOX Box: Turtle Power 22. Links and References * VOX Box: Turtle Power 21 Category:VOX Box Category:Casey Jones/Appearances Category:April O'Neil/Appearances Category:Leonardo/Appearances Category:Raphael/Appearances Category:Donatello/Appearances Category:Michelangelo/Appearances Category:Old Hob/Appearances Category:Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles/Appearances Category:Pest Control/Appearances Category:Star City/Appearances